Wildfires, Flooding Force Branch Closings

Credit unions in two states hit by natural disasters, the Colorado wildfires and north Florida flooding, were being forced Wednesday to close branches, ready emergency precautions and map out financial assistance programs to help out member victims.

As evacuation orders continued in fire zones near Colorado Springs and Fort Collins and with roads flooded out in the Panhandle and the Jacksonville area, some credit union employees were unable to get to work prompting shuttering of some offices.

The $420 million Air Academy FCU said the campus only five miles from the Waldo Canyon blaze was barring employees from entering the premises, triggering AAFCU to shut down its branch for the day.

Similarly, the $3.6 billion Ent FCU of Colorado Springs said its Centennial branch was closed Tuesday and there were fears two other branches at Woodland Park and Rock Rim might be shuttered as well.

“Right now we’re in the midst of management meetings to discuss exactly what our next steps will be,” said Dana Chippendale, an Ent spokeswoman.

In Florida the $290 million Sunstate CU of Gainesville said it was closing its Lake City VA office considering“many of our employees are unable to travel to and from their homes safely due to flooding.”

The $5.1 billion Suncoast Schools FCU of Tampa said its Brooksville branch has been closed all week due to street flooding.

The Brooksville Public Works Department is leaving the road closed signs in place today and will re-evaluate the situation again at noon today,” a statement from Suncoast said, noting that has been no damage to the facility.

Separately, the $6.7 billion Security Service FCU of San Antonio, with a large Denver presence, said it has expanded its assistance program for the American Red Cross wildfire relief effort to accept donations at all of its Colorado area donations. Last week the credit union began taking donations at select locations.